Good Shepherd International School encourages all its students to participate in schemes / programmes that will inculcate the spirit of freedom and enterprise.
The under mentioned students are participating in activities that will enable them qualify for the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
| SNEHA TARWAY | STD XII |
| RASHI KAMALIA | STD XII |
| ANISH POLAVARAPU | STD XII |
| TRINH HONG QUANG | STD XII |
| ADRIAN L MYLLIEM | STD XII |
| KARAN ASHISH SHETE | STD XI |
| TSUYOSHI IMSAKA | STD XI |
| BENJAMIN GEORGE MATHEW | STD XI |
| UTSAV ROHIT MODI | STD XI |
| AMRITESH CHITRAPRAKASH | STD XI |
As part of their “residential activity”, these students spent 5 days from 22 to 26 Nov 2010, at a small tribal village called Kolikarai about 40 Km from the school.
An excerpt in the words of one of the participant is as follows.
“On the first day we travelled to this picturesque village, we had to cook our own lunch. All of us together cooked rice, cauliflower and chicken. We had lunch at 5 pm. As a matter of fact, all meals were cooked by us.
On the second day we repaired the road leading to the village. We cleared a lot of shrubs and undergrowth which had choked the mud road. Later in the day we went on along trek to another village. We met the village Headman and understood from him that he was responsible for the welfare of everybody in the village.
On our return to Kolikarai we cooked and had a hearty lunch .In the evening we went to bathe in a mountain stream nearby. The clear, sparkling and cold water was so invigorating that we went to the same spot everyday for the rest of our stay.
On the third day, the sky was overcast and it was windy and there was a light drizzle as well. We trekked to an enchanting waterfall nearby. On the way we tasted wild gooseberries. We also observed that the settlements in the hills were situated near water bodies.
On the fourth day we got down to some serious road repairing activity. We filled up some pot holes making it easier for the occasional vehicle to traverse. We also cleaned up a volley ball court of shrubs and leveled it. That was tough work, but we were happy at the end of the day. We had contributed a small mite to this settlement. We also realized the dignity of labour. We understood that cooperation gets work done faster and with better results and all of us were happy doing this work. We went to sleep early.
On the fifth day we bid adieu to the people of this settlement. On our way back we visited a school run by the Nilgiris Adivasi Welfare Association. We shared cakes and biscuits with the children of this school, sang songs for them and some of us delivered lecturettes on various topics to small groups of students.
We realized that God has blessed us with ample opportunities and a great deal of assets. We realized that there were people living with just bare necessities and yet apparently happy and getting on with their lives without complaining”
SYNOPSIS OF THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD
The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme for young people aged 14 to 21 years was launched in 1969. This is an exciting self development program. Over 7 million young people world wide have taken up the award challenge.
This programme can be done at three progressive levels which when successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.
a) Volunteering: undertaking service to individuals or the community.
b) Physical: improving in an area of sport, dance or fitness activities.
c) Skills: developing practical and social skills and personal interests.
d) Expedition: planning, training for and completion of an adventurous journey in the country were the program is undertaken. For bronze, this is a weekend activity doing roughly 15 Km a day, based on a preplanned route. For silver this trek includes a night halt on the trek route. For gold it involves halting three nights on the trek route.
e) Residential section: At Gold level participants must do this additional section, which involves staying and working away from home doing shared activity.
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